Set your goals high. Work hard to achieve them. Then move on to even bigger goals and keep moving forward.
These were the words of advice given by two-time Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medalist Jereem “The Dream” Richards to Vessigny High School students.
Richards, who made a celebratory visit to his alma mater two Fridays ago, told the students he was glad to be back.
“I feel like it was just yesterday I was in assembly, just like you, wondering how my day was going to go or maybe finishing up some homework before school started,” Richards said.
Sharing some insights into his athletic journey, he said, “I have faced many obstacles. It was not as easy as it may seem. When you all see us compete as athletes, you will all see what a race, what a relay, but there is a lot of work and dedication that goes into becoming a professional athlete. There are long training days. Early nights because you need to rest. And I’m a firm believer in doing the best you can in order to be successful.”
Saying that sport and life are like tests, Richards added: “If you don’t study, if you don’t do the hard work, you won’t be successful. If you have a math, English or science test, if you don’t study, you won’t pass. So it goes without saying that you need to give yourself the best possible chance to be as successful as possible in whatever you do in life, because you can’t sit back and think that success will come, you have to work. Also, you appreciate success more when you put in the hard work to get where you are.”
Pointing to his Commonwealth Games 200m and 4x400m gold medals around his neck, Richards said: “These two medals were the fruit of very hard work over a very, very long time because I’ve been running since 2001. Some of you haven’t been born yet.
“I always imagined where I wanted to be as an athlete, where I wanted to be as a national hero. And I saw athletes and some of the things that people would have done in the past for Trinidad and Tobago, and I told myself that if they could do it, I could do it. It wasn’t easy. It was a road paved with progress, but also with pain and struggle. But I persevered.”
He encouraged the students to model their lives after the school’s motto.
“The motto of this school is “Up and Forward”. The way I see the motto is that you walk up to your goals; whatever you aspire to in life, walk towards it. You set your goals high and go towards your goals. But the further part of the motto is that once you’ve achieved your goals, don’t get complacent and say I wanted to do this and I did it, so that’s it, I’m going to stay right here. You then move on, set new goals, cross your goals and move forward. This is the motto of this school. You set goals, you achieve your goals and you go on and achieve bigger goals than you had achieved before and you keep moving forward,” he said.
Thanking the pupils for hosting him, Richards added: “It’s an honor to know that so many great people have come from this school, so that means you all can too. Whatever you aspire to be in life, go for it, work towards it, set your goals high and work towards it. Nothing in life comes easy, but because nothing in life comes easy, it makes it sweeter when you achieve victory, when you achieve your goals.”
Point Fortin Mayor Saleema Thomas, another past student, also addressed the students.
“Being the alma mater of this great school and knowing that this said school you are a part of would have produced many successful men and women, be it in sports, culture or education, but many successful men and women. …and I have to say that you too could one day be another Jereem ‘The Dream’ Richards. You too can one day become the next mayor. We can go further than that, the next prime minister or president of Trinidad and Tobago, because this great school has a lot of great potential like any other school.”
Richards was accompanied by Commonwealth Games 4×4 gold medal winning teammates Machel Cedenio and Kashief King, who are also Point Fortin products.
